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Men's Basketball to Meet Southern Indiana Saturday in Geico Boardwalk Battle Finale

Flames and Screaming Eagles to square off for the first time in nearly 46 years

11/21/2025 4:36:00 PM

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – UIC will close out its two-game stay at the Geico Boardwalk Battle on Saturday when it squares off with Southern Indiana in the tournament's third-place game at 4 p.m. (CT)/5 p.m. (ET) inside the Ocean Center in Daytona Beach, Fla. All games at this year's Boardwalk Battle are being streamed live on BallerTV, a subscription platform, at a cost of $5 per game. Nevada Cullen is calling the play-by-play for BallerTV at the Boardwalk Battle.

The Flames are in the midst of a four-game road trip and a season-opening stretch in which UIC will play eight of its first 12 games away from home. In fact, the Flames won't play back-to-back dates at Credit Union 1 Arena until the season is nearly two months old when they play host to Illinois Tech (Dec. 29) and Murray State (Jan. 1).

UIC is seeking its third top-three finish at a multi-team event (MTE) in the past four years. The Flames finished as the runners-up at the 2022 Tom Konchalski Classic (hosted by Fordham) and the 2023 Baha Mar Hoops Nassau Championship in Nassau, Bahamas.

GAME #6
Geico Boardwalk Battle - Third-Place Game
UIC "Flames" (3-2, 0-0 MVC) vs. Southern Indiana "Screaming Eagles" (1-4, 0-0 OVC)
When: Saturday, Nov. 22nd  |  4 p.m. CT/5 p.m. ET
Where: Daytona Beach, Fla.  |  Ocean Center
TV: BallerTV (Nevada Cullen, p-b-p)
Radio: None
Live Stats: StatBroadcast

SERIES BREAKDOWN
  • UIC and Southern Indiana will be meeting for the fifth time, with their series tied 2-2. This will be the first time the teams have met at a neutral site, with each school successfully defending its home court twice.
  • The Flames and Screaming Eagles have not played one another in nearly 46 years, predating either school's elevation to NCAA Division I status. Their last matchup came on Jan. 16, 1980, in Evansville, with USI prevailing 58-55.
  • That game was the back end of a home-and-home series between UIC and Southern Indiana, who played twice during both the 1978-79 and 1979-80 seasons.
  • UIC's last win in the series came on Jan. 3, 1980, with a 67-65 victory in Chicago.
  • Of the four prior games in the series between the Flames and Screaming Eagles, the past three have been decided by four points or fewer.
  • UIC and Southern Indiana met in women's basketball in the opening round of the 2024 WNIT in Evansville, with the Screaming Eagles edging the Flames, 69-64.


MORE ON SOUTHERN INDIANA

  • A member of the Ohio Valley Conference, Southern Indiana is in its fourth season at the NCAA Division I level, having elevated prior to the 2022-23 season.
  • The Screaming Eagles are coming off a 10-20 campaign last season and have a largely revamped roster this year, with 12 newcomers among their 15-man roster. Of the 12 newcomers, all are transfers, with eight having played at Division I schools in 2024-25.
  • USI is off to a 1-4 start this season, following a narrow 87-81 loss to Incarnate Word at the Geico Boardwalk Battle on Thursday.
  • Senior guard Ismail Habib (a transfer from Portland State) leads the Screaming Eagles in scoring (19.4 ppg.), one of four USI players averaging over 11 points per game.
  • Head coach Stan Gouard is in his sixth season at his alma mater and 18th on the sidelines following a successful stint at UIndy. He is 293-195 in his career, including a 65-78 record at USI. Saturday will be his first matchup against UIC.


NOTING THE FLAMES

  • UIC is playing in a multi-team event (MTE) for the ninth time in the past 10 seasons (all but the 2020-21 season that was truncated due to the COVID-19 pandemic).
  • The Flames have finished second at their MTE in two of the past three years. In 2022, UIC went to Bronx, N.Y., and won two of three games to place second at Fordham's Tom Konchalski Classic. In 2023, the Flames competed at the Baha Mar Hoops Nassau Championship in Nassau, Bahamas, winning twice to reach the title game before falling to UNCG on two last-second foul shots, 58-57.
  • UIC has earned single wins in each of its last two MTE appearances in Florida. In 2019, the Flames won their finale at the Boca Raton Beach Classic (89-83 over San Diego) and last year, UIC won the middle of its three games at the Boardwalk Battle (96-83 over La Salle).
  • UIC has looked sharp against its fellow Chicagoland schools across all sports during the 2025-26 academic year. Thus far, Flames teams are 9-0-2 against Windy City opponents this year (3-0 volleyball; 3-0-1 men's soccer; 2-0 men's basketball; 1-0-1 women's soccer), the best intracity record by any of Chicago's Division I schools.
  • On Nov. 11 against St. Francis, the Flames shot a sizzling 65.1 percent from the floor (its best since Jan. 29, 2005 - .667 at Butler) and 66.7 percent from three-point range (best since Nov. 23, 2011 - .692 vs. Evansville), assisting on 29 of their 41 field goals and fueled by a second-half barrage that saw the Flames shoot .697 from the field and make all four of their three-point tries. UIC was equally prolific at the defensive end, coming up with 17 steals, the most for a Flames' squad in nearly 11 years (also 17 steals on Dec. 30, 2014, vs. Judson).
  • UIC's 76-73 loss at Oregon State on Nov. 7 was the Flames' closest call against a power conference opponent since an 80-75 win at BIG EAST member DePaul on Dec. 14, 2016.
  • UIC's last three matchups with power-conference schools have all been road losses decided by 11 points or fewer — 69-58 at Cincinnati in 2023, 83-74 at Northwestern in 2024, and 76-73 at Oregon State earlier this year.
  • UIC's 13 steals at OSU were the most it had recorded against a Division I opponent since Nov. 16, 2016, when it also had 13 thefts in an 86-78 win over UTSA at Credit Union 1 Arena.
  • Henderson's career-high seven steals at OSU were the most by a UIC player since Jan. 9, 2013, when Daniel Barnes had eight steals in a 75-70 home loss to Valparaiso. It also tied for the fifth-most thefts by a Missouri Valley Conference player in the past 30 seasons.
  • With its Nov. 3 victory over Detroit Mercy, UIC picked up its second consecutive season-opening win, the first time the Flames have started with a victory in back-to-back seasons since 2019-20 and 2020-21. UIC is 39-40 (.494) all-time in season openers, including a 24-21 (.533) mark since moving to NCAA Division I in 1981-82.
  • Rob Ehsan is the first UIC head coach in 40 years to win his first two season openers as the Flames' skipper (the last to do so was Willie Little in 1983-84 and 1984-85).
  • On Nov. 13, UIC announced the signing of Dikembe Shaw, a 6-7 forward from Crown Point, Ind., to a National Letter of Intent to join the Flames starting in 2026-27. Shaw was an all-state selection and Indiana Junior All-Star pick last year while attending Crown Point High School, averaging 16.2 ppg., 6.7 rpg., 3.4 apg. and 1.3 spg., while helping the Bulldogs to a 24-2 record and a berth in the Indiana Class 4A semistate final. He also averaged 12.9 ppg. and 5.9 rpg. during the summer 2025 club season while competing for Indiana Elite 3SSB (3Stripes Select Basketball).


UP NEXT: ROBERT MORRIS
UIC winds up its four-game road swing next Wednesday, Nov. 26, when the Flames travel to suburban Pittsburgh for a 1 p.m. CT (2 p.m. ET) matinee against another former Horizon League opponent, Robert Morris. The Colonials are the second of three non-conference foes for UIC who played in the NCAA Tournament last season.

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